Oklahoma guard can do more than score

On her last visit to Columbus in December 2010, Oklahoma guard Aaryn Ellenberg set a Value City Arena opponents’ record by scoring 34 points during a wild, 95-84 loss to Ohio State.

The Buckeyes threw multiple defenders at the then-freshman but a fifth foul with 37 seconds remaining in the game is what finally stopped her and prompted an appreciative standing ovation from the OSU fans.

That performance came up yesterday during interviews as the sixth-seeded Sooners prepared for their NCAA Tournament first-round game against 11th-seeded Central Michigan at 11:10 a.m. Saturday in St. John Arena.

“Yeah, I remember that game,” Ellenberg said. “I’m kind of thinking about it now. I don’t know what was going through my head. I was a freshman at the time. Just being in that kind of situation was really fun for me. Even though we lost the game, it was still pretty good thing.”

The response was measured and quiet, which Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale later said fit perfectly into the package that is Ellenberg.

After Coale took her seat on the bus that night, she thought, “This is going to be an experience for four years.”

Nearly three seasons later, Ellenberg will bring more than an electric offensive game to the court against the Mid-American Conference tournament champion Chippewas (21-11).

“Oh my goodness, she has grown,” Coale said.

That growth is one of the reasons that the Sooners (22-10) have managed to survive a series of injuries to reach a 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament.

With starting senior guard and emotional anchor Whitney Hand among those missing for the season, Ellenberg said: “We all had to step up and be better as individuals and collectively as a team. People had to become more vocal.”

After Ellenberg left the dais to prepare for practice, Coale noted what the now junior had said.

“She’s speaking of herself,” the coach said. “Whitney goes down, and she is clearly the most talented player on our team now and a very, very quiet soul – and somewhat unflappable.

“You look at her and you think nothing fazes her. She goes off for 34 and she looks just like she does when she goes 0 for 10. She doesn’t have a change in countenance.”

In Coale’s mind, the ability serves as both “a blessing and a curse.”

“It’s a blessing when your opponent can’t get to you emotionally,” she said. “It’s also a little bit of a void when your team needs you to light a fire in them and lead them.

“So she has had to learn to grow and we have pushed her out of her comfort zone repeatedly. It’s still happening. It happened yesterday in practice to get her to be more vocal – to show more energy and emotion to her teammates.”

“They’re very good in transition,” she said. “They have capable scorers and confident scorers. They think their ball is going in the basket.”

Chippewa coach Sue Guevara, a former graduate assistant at Ohio State, is excited by the challenge.

“We have two teams that like to get out in transition and will not have a 30-second violation,” she said. “Oklahoma likes to shoot the ball quickly and has good size inside. I expect it will be 40 minutes of going up and down the coourt.”

Coale needs Ellenberg to lead.

“I’ve reminded her repeatedly that the line between good and great is the way you impact the people around you,” Coale said. “You’re not great unless you make the other four people on the floor with you better players, too.

“Sometimes it’s not always giving them the ball where they need it to score. It’s also emotionally lifting them to the best version of themselves.”